Loving the Great Outdoors this Summer

Yes I know, most would say that we're well into fall. With the cooler temperatures and leaves changing colors all around us. But Stephen and I have been trying to squeeze the last of summer fun in before it gets too cold! We've really been able to enjoy the outdoors this summer! Once again we made it a goal to go hiking each week and find some new places. And once again we did pretty good the first month. We went almost every weekend, considering the cold and stormy June we had. We were on vacation most of July, we've been able to go a few times in August and even a bit this month. We've made some great memories with our fun adventures. We were only caught in one hail/lightning storm, saw many beautiful waterfalls, ran into a moose, had a picnic in the snow, saw amazing sunsets, found a favorite camping spot miles from anyone around, heard a coyote in our camp(so this may not be such a favorite spot anymore), fell into a river, and made sure to do lots and lots of bird watching. Just to name a few...

What a great summer! Both Stephen and I love being outside and enjoying the beautiful mountains around us. We're sad to see the summer months go.

Green Thumb

Well, we sure learned lots this summer... being our first with our own back yard and garden. I would have to say it was so fun...once all the hard work of putting in the yard was done. We absolutely love having a little place of our own. Here's a few things we'll keep in mind with many future years ahead of us.

1. Having a lawn mower like this really can have it's benefits...although now that I think of it, we've been so busy since school started, I don't think our lawn has been mowed. mmmmm...we'd better get on that one.

2. A little fertilizer can go a long way! This is what it did to one half of our garden....
This is what it did to the other! oops! I was sad about the tomatoes, but I guess you live and learn!

3. Harvest time is wonderful. We've enjoyed cucumbers, squash, lettuce, beans, and peppers.:)
4. Earwigs and slugs are very hard to get rid of.
5. We've loved grilling and eating on the back patio with friends enjoying the view of the mountains!

A Whirlwind...

I can't believe that it's the last day of August! We've had quite the month! We returned back from Michigan and found out about 5 days later that Stephen's Grandpa passed away. So we hopped back onto the airplane and headed back out to Michigan. We had a quick trip to visit with family and say our goodbyes. It was good to be there and we were so grateful we were able to see him just a week earlier, when we were out there originally. I'm sad I never knew him when he was in his prime, but I've loved having a grandpa again even if it was for just a few years through marriage. He was such a happy man, even when things were hard and his was very sick. He always greeted you with a big smile and a positive attitude. Something I want to do more of! :)

In the midst of traveling to a funeral. I tried to unpack my classroom and get ready for the little kiddos to start school. I would have to say, I would much rather move my house than an entire classroom. It was such hard work and took tons of time. My poor husband didn't have a wife for about a week straight. Sorry sweetheart! I've been back to the grind and busy as ever, since the kids started school a week or so ago. I have a great little class this year. There's only 10 of them, but boy they are such a handful. I am so grateful I have two full-time aides in my classroom this year. I don't know if I could do it without them. They are truly lifesavers. I'm sure there will be many more funny stories to come with this group. One of my little boys struggles a lot with language and keeps calling me "Mr. Holden" Hey...at least he has the last part right. We'll work on the rest!

Also, Stephen is back doing the school thing too. Only he's at BYU working on his MBA.He finished his last day with his "real job" this month and traded in a brief case for a backpack full of books. In a small way, it made me really miss the college life of classes and being on campus. But only in a small way. I guess I now have to become some-what of a cougar fan with him getting his MBA there. However, I'll always be an Aggie at heart.

We also have his little brother James living with us for a semester. It's been fun to have him around too. He's a great kid and just got back from his mission this summer. So we're easing him back in to "real life" and are very excited to have him around.

What a crazy end to such a relaxing summer! It was a good one though and we're enjoying life and all that it brings!

Memories Made in Michigan

I'm feeling very relaxed as I soak in my last week of summer vacation! We were able to spend a few weeks with Stephen's family out in Michigan. We had a great time with the WHOLE family, now that his little brother James is back from his mission. We played hard and were able to travel around the great state of Michigan. I really got to see everything. I'll try not to make this too long, but we packed everyday with something fun!

We spent a day up in beautiful Riffle River. (a favorite family place their grandparents always took them camping) We played on swinging bridges, climbed amazing trees and waded in the river.

We also drove down to the big city and did a session in the Detroit Temple. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive each way and truly gave me a taste of not living 5 minutes from the temple. And yet they feel they are so close and are grateful they don't have to make the 8 hour trip to Chicago or Toronto. I love the temple and it was neat to do a session with the Holden's.


The next day, Stephen's uncle and cousin's came up from Ohio and we all drove up north to Mackinaw City which is right by the U.P. (aka...Upper Peninsula). Where we spent some time and then took a ferry over to Mackinac Island. It was beautiful with all the sailboats and lighthouses on Lake Huron. Mackinac Island has banned motorized vehicles for more than a century and remains a living Victorian community. So we rented some tandem bikes and rode around the island. It's also famous for being the place where the old classic movie "Somewhere in Time" was filmed. And of course we had to get some of their famous fudge!

Then off onto another road trip where we drove down to the Au Sable River. We rented canoes and kayaks and went 10 miles down the river. It was so green, I realized how much of a desert Utah really is. We had a great time catching frogs and saw lots of mink and turtles in their natural habitat. A first for me!

Stephen's brother Jeremy is starting the Police Academy next month and just got his gun. We decided to go shooting and brake it in. They also had a small 22 rifle for those who were too chicken to use the 40 caliber hand gun.(Like me!)

We also went paint balling to some field in the middle of all these Amish Farms. It was really a random place, but we had a fun time. It brought out the kid in all of us, but I had forgotten how much those little balls hurt when you get hit. Both Stephen and I were sore and had many bruises all over our body, one of which on my
leg was blacker than black and bigger than my hand. It was crazy and a good thing that was towards the end of the vacation.

It's always hard to leave and to live so far away. We had such a great time laughing and hanging out with each other.

Five Foot Nine

Stephen always is giving me a hard time because I'm "taller" than him. But really it depends on the day and the shoes either of us are wearing. He's always saying he hopes our kids take after my side of the family, with the tall genes. Well, take a look at this! According to Harvard, I am at increased risk of cancer because I am tall. I'm not sure what I think about this...
I quote:

Being tall may raise your risk of colon cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and pancreatic cancer. Scientists aren’t sure why. One reason may be that tall people have more cells in their bodies, which increases the number of cells that could become cancerous. Another reason may be that tall people grow faster as children. Faster growth is linked to changes in the genetic structure (DNA) of the body’s cells, eventually causing them to become cancerous.

Being tall also increased my chance of being a good basketball or volleyball player, but that sure didn't happen. I guess there are some advantages to being short!

Happy 4th!!!

We did so many things in this weekend with family that we totally crashed on Sunday! It was sure worth it though. Stephen had work off on Friday, so we had an extra long weekend. It was great! Friday morning we set off early to meet up with my Sister Camille and her family at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. I think everybody else had that same idea. It was incredibly busy, but what a beautiful temple it was. I loved seeing the expression of my nephews Austin and Nathan and explaining the different areas to them. Then the guys took off for an afternoon of golfing. That night the whole family headed over to my sister Melinda's house for an outdoor movie. They have a huge inflatable screen they set up with a popcorn machine and everything. I made it through the entire movie withOUT falling asleep...amazing...I know!
On Saturday morning we woke up early to head out for the Kaysville 5K. This is becoming an annual tradition! Last year my sister Camille and I did it. But, this year my little nephew Nathan set a goal to run it like his mom. By the end he had recruited Me, Stephen, his dad Mike and my mom to all run it. It was so much fun to do it with a big group! My mom even got first place for her age group! Way to go Mom!We headed to the little parade, to see my nieces ride in my dad's old Model A car! Then back to my parents for a yummy BBQ and even homemade rootbeer and ice cream! It doesn't get better then that. And of course it couldn't have been the fourth without lighting a firework or two. We sat on the front lawn while the big kids (aka the dad's) lit up quite the show. We also have a perfect view of the city's big fireworks too. It's makes for a very patriotic setting. We definitely played hard. I don't know how we could have done anything else this weekend! It sure was fun to spend time with family.

Praying for the Huish Family

So I thought I'd pass this on... Stephen's Co-worker, Zac and his wife have a daughter, Sadie, who is battling a brain stem tumor. She is a quite the little gal and is declining fast. We have been following her blog the past year. Sadie has been through so much the past year and a half and they are an amazing family. They have been so strong through all of this and are an example of faith. I can't imagine going through a difficult trial like this. It's just a reminder to me to be thankful for the gospel and eternal families. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

sadiehuish.blogspot.com

UV 5K

I've run only a handful of races the last 4 years. Most of them 5k's, which I find to be "fun". I tried a 10K once, when I was dating Stephen, (the things you do when you're dating someone). That to me wasn't so "fun". Maybe it was the not being able to walk afterwards or the losing of a toenail...I'm not quite sure. So for now, I've decided to just stick to a good 5K. However this year I decided to make it a goal to run a 5K in 30 minutes. I didn't know if I could actually do it. I enjoy running, but I am sure not fast by any means.

Back in March I signed up to run the Rex Lee Run at BYU, but was deathly sick the day of the race and my sweet husband made me stay home so I could recover and not drop over dead. That about drove me nuts to think I couldn't run and finish something I started! My determined little mind wasn't going to give up. So the last few months I've been trying to run longer and faster to build up my endurance. Well it all paid off on Saturday! It was such a great feeling! Especially with Stephen as my little cheering section. He caught a great picture of me crossing the finish line! (Notice the time on the clock!) Thanks sweetheart for supporting your crazy wife!

Our Little Back Yard!

It's been about a year since we started working on our backyard. It's gone from a bunch of dirt, rocks and 4-5 foot tall weeds... to this!




We also have a tiny garden in our little back yard. It's been fun to plant a few beans, tomatoes, peppers and squash. I just hope that I can keep all these plants alive this summer and harvest some veggies.

I must say that I've really enjoyed working on it this spring. I'm learning so much about taking care of a yard and really love spending time outside working in the dirt. It so relaxing to me! Now that's it summer I love getting up early and working outside in the cool mornings! I guess I didn't realize how much I loved it, until this week. It's rained everyday the past 10 days and I haven't been able to be out there. I think I've found a new little hobbie!

Celebrating Air Force Week!

Since I have a husband who loves airplanes and flying. We didn't miss out on this opportunity. Utah was one of three states selected by the Air Force to hold the annual celebration this year. There were so many things they did this week for it, so we decided to join the fun!
On Monday we were able to go to a Bee's Baseball game. I always love a good baseball game! We met up with my sister Camille, her husband and kids (who were so cute and excited as they were all decked out in their little league baseball attire). They had some special ceremonies before the game started with parachuters landing on the field. Then really a close and loud fly over. But unfortunately it started to rain in the fourth inning and we decided to head home so we wouldn't be soaked. The game kept on going and sadly we missed Mike catch a foul ball with his bare hands.

Then on Saturday they did an all-day air show at Hill Air Force Base. This definitely was my favorite! I loved seeing all the different airplanes, even some that Stephen has flown me in. Again, we met up with my sister and her family. Both her husband Mike and Stephen have a passion for airplanes. It was great to see them have so much fun. They both are truly kids at heart around all those big toys.
Watching those airplanes was awesome. It was amazing to watch the tricks and stunts that the different airplanes would do. It totally defied all the physics to flying. It was incredible!


At the end of the day they had the Thunderbirds perform. I was amazed at how close the F-16's would fly together, as they did flips and stunts in the air. They were sure loud and amazingly fast. They would shoot straight up almost 3 miles in the air, then flip around so fast. Then to top it all off they would fly upside-down, coming from opposite directions, heading right straight towards for each other. Just to pull out at the last minute nearly missing each other. They performed quite the show. We knew going up there it would be crowded, and sure enough it was. They said their was about 290,000 people in attendance just on Saturday. We had such a great time!

Only 365 Days Until You're 30!!!

Stephen turned the big 2-9 last Friday! And yes that's right...he's joined the "Countdown Until You're Thirty Club!" He had his first day back on the job. (Yes it's true... we've had quite the week. I'll have to post this crazy story later) But we're so grateful that he still has his job...what a wonderful birthday present that was. I decided to surprise him and get him a BBQ grill. He had a fun time putting it together and firing it up.(I think I'll enjoy this gift too!) We grilled up some steaks and had a delicious birthday dinner! Stephen is such a wonderful husband. I'm so grateful for him in my life!
Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

My life as a Teacher

So as the school year comes to an end and I'm packing boxes to move schools...once again. I was thinking of all the kids I've been able to work with over the years. I've now been teaching for the last six years and have learned a lot from each little kid. When I first started teaching, someone told me to write down the funny and crazy experiences that you have in the classroom. So I did. And I've been adding to that book every year. Sometimes I'm better at it than others. But I decided to pull it out a while ago and look through it. After reading through the book I thought I should just put it all into a blog. So I've been working on slowly putting the different stories onto a blog. It's definitely been a work in progress and a bigger project then I thought. I'm still adding a few, but have most of the stories put on. It's brought back some great memories. However, because I'm putting info and stories about other's kids online, I've tried to keep all people involved anonymous. I have changed all of their names to keep their confidentially, because you never know who will be reading this.

If you wanted to look at some of the small snipits of my job go ahead and take a look!

www.myyellowcrayon.blogspot.com

I hope you enjoy this and can remember to laugh each day. I know I sure do!

Can It Be?

Just for the record...

3 1/2 weeks or
17 days

Until SUMMER BREAK!!!

Not that I'm counting... I love my little kiddos at school to death, but I am looking forward to doing a little of this



Okay so maybe I can't quite do the butterfly stroke, but I am planning on spend lots of time at our pool with a book and doing a lot of relaxing! If we can just survive the busiest weeks ever! Wish me good luck!

What a Wonderful Week!

It was my spring break this past week and boy was I ready for a break! We sure had a lot of fun and played hard. We were busy with something each and everyday. It was great to get my mind of the craziness of school and I had a small taste of soon to be summer. I apologize in advance this may be a long post.

Day 1: Wicked
Back in October we heard that Wicked was coming to Salt Lake and so we found an awesome deal and bought tickets. We have been so excited and finally got to go! So we got all dressed up and went up to the Capital Theater on Friday night. It was incredible. We met up with my mom, dad, my sister Camille and her son Nathan. We were all able to sit by each other and had an absolutely wonderful time. I love the music and have listened to it forever. It was awesome to finally be able to go and see the show. I loved how they put it all together and all the fun surpises at the end! This broadway definately is tops in my book along with Les Miserable. It was incredible!

Day 2: Lunch with A Friend
One of my good friends Rachel from Utah State and I met up with each other for lunch. It had been a long time since I'd seen her. We were good friends up at USU in the Special Ed program. What fun times we had back then. I'm so glad she lives close. I've been so blessed with such great friends over the years.

Day 3: Easter with the Holden Family
Since most of Stephen's family is living back east. We end up spending a lot of time with my family. He does have a sister at BYU and a few cousins out here too. So we decided to host Easter dinner at our house. They all were able to come over and spend the evening. It was a lot of fun and we always end up laughing lots. We had a great Easter!

Day 4: Happy Birthday Camille!
Because I was out for spring break, I decided to head up to my mom's for the day! It was my sister's birthday so the girls went to lunch! It was great to be with my mom and sisters for the afternoon. After a delicious lunch at Olive Garden we headed over to the mall and went shopping. We had a great time. I always love hanging out with my sisters.

Day 5: Dirt
The next project in our backyard was finally finished. We got a trailer full of topsoil and put it around in our yard. I'm excited to finally be able to start planting. If it would only start to warm up and stop raining so I can get out there.

Day 6-9: St. George Get-A-Way
We had a blast with our good friends Justin and Carissa the past four days. Both Carissa and I teach in the same district and so we decided to do a little road trip while we had a few days off. We packed up the car and headed down to St. George. We were hoping for a little warmer weather. However, the first day was chilly and rainy, but it worked out okay. We ended up spending the day in St. George seeing a lot of the church history sights and driving up beautiful Snow Canyon. By the end of the day the rain was clearing out and it was a lot nicer outside. The guys were anxious to use their golf clubs and we decided to go to the driving range where I about made a fool out of myself. Afterwhich the guys couldn't resist the nicer weather and decided to golf 9 holes. So Carissa and I headed for the outlets and went shopping.

The next day we got up early and headed into Zion's National Park. Steve talked us into hiking up Angels Landing. It was a beautiful hike, although I didn't like the part where the trial ends and you head up the side of the mountain with just a few chains to hold onto so you don't slide down a thousand or so feet to your death. The view however definately was worth the climb. We were all a little sore and stiff so we spent a few hours the hotel's swimming pool and hot tub. What a relaxing get-a-way. It was greatly needed before heading into the last month of school which is always crazy with testing, transitions and now packing and moving classrooms.

Change Isn't Easy

Last Monday morning when I woke up and got out of bed, I would have never guessed that my life at work would be completely turned upside down.
First of all on Monday morning in between my many IEP meetings, my principal pulled me aside and gently broke to me some news that the district special ed department would be meeting with me at 8:30 the next morning regarding my assignment next year. I was grateful for this warning from him, but the next 24 hours was a long and stressful one. Then as I sat in the meeting, I was told that I'd be moving schools and be in a different position. I really didn't have a choice in the matter. It was either take the position they offered or interview around and get the luck of the draw, if anything. I felt like a little chess piece and they were making their move. I had 24 hours to make my decision. So the next day, I ran over to this new school and met with the principal. We had a lengthy, but good discussion and he introduced me to a few teachers. I was impressed with him and think that it will be a great school to work at. I've been so blessed over the years to have worked with some amazing principals and that makes my job much easier.
After much debate,discussion and prayer, I decided to take the position. So next year I will be working at Rocky Mountain Elementary in Lindon as a small group LD teacher. I'm not excited to move classrooms one more time. The count being 5 times in 6 years. But I'm trying to look at the positive side of things. Although moving won't be fun, I am excited about the fact that I'll be working in the same school as my adorable nieces. That will be so fun to be in the same school as them. They've always asked if I could be their teacher....well I won't necessarily be THEIR teacher, but I will be close by.
So now that it's Friday, I must say that I'm so grateful for the weekend. I always look forward to general conference weekend. It's so nice to just sit back, relax and listen to the words of our Prophet and leaders. We have such inspired leaders and I can't wait to hear their words. It will be a great way to end this crazy week.

Going Green...

So last weekend, Stephen and I spent the morning doing this......

And this...
And a little of this...

Yep! You guessed it! We now have some grass in our little back yard and we are way excited about the fact. After many hours of raking tons and tons of rocks and trying to level and grade the dirt, it so nice to look out our back window and seen some green. We were glad we actually had a nice warm day to lay it in. It got up to almost 70 degrees that day. Although it would be hard to believe after all the snow we got this week. But we got up early and the two of us laid the sod in about 3 hours. I have to say those rolls of sod are heavy. So needless to say, we were sore for a few days...but it was definitely worth it. I'm excited to plant a small vegetable garden and some flowers this summer. Now the work really begins!

Mac vs PC

This has been a very debated topic among our household the past few weeks. When I changed jobs and started working for Alpine District, they are very "Mac Savey" Everything is mac in that district. They even issued me a personal MacBook Laptop. At first I hated using it and felt like I couldn't get around and do what I needed to. But after a little exploring and time I found some pretty cool stuff with my apple and really started loving using it. I've always been a PC person, but I'd have to say I'm finding my apple to be a lot better computer. So now that Stephen's been admitted and accepted to BYU's MBA they require that all the students have a laptop. So Stephen's been researching and comparing Macs. He's literally spent hours reading about both. (When it comes to buying something Stephen always does his research whether it's a big or small purchase.) We've even been to the Simply Mac store a few time talking to people and looking at stuff. It's looking like we're making the jump into macs!

Call Me Crazy!

So I don't know quite what to call it...insane, crazy, deranged, or mad? Whatever it was it sure exhausted me. At school, I was talked into volunteering to go on an overnight field trip with 85 sixth graders. We had a great time, but I felt like I've been recouping the entire weekend. Our school took the entire 6th grade up to a camp that the district owns called Clear Creek. It's a huge piece of property down by Scofield Reservoir with a bunch of cabins, ropes courses, and hiking trails. It kind of reminded me of my EFY days except I was dealing with 11-12 year olds and I'm not quite used to staying up to 2 am. I not as young as I used to be. Actually it was really a lot of fun. After the 2 hour cramped bus ride we finally got there and the fun began. We did a lot of fun activities teaching the kids about Native Americans. My favorite was our constellations activity. Our school has this really amazing star dome. It's basically and inflatable dome room where we all crawled into and the stars where projected onto the ceiling. We looked at all the different constellations, how to locate them and all the stories from the Greek Mythology about them. Then we went outside and looked at the real stars in the sky! It was way cool and I learned so much.

Are You Guilty?

Let's be honest if you're an avid blogger, or even if your not, you most likely have done this. Yup...I'm talking about blog stocking. I can definitely say that I'm guilty! Why is it so intriguing to read about other people? And sometimes even people you don't know....I'm not quite sure. But I can easily spend hours just reading blogs and catching up. Although I don't always have the time, I find it very addicting. Does anyone else have this problem?

Anyways...I must say I now consider blogging to be one of my relaxing hobbies. It's been a great way to journal, write down thoughts and things that we've done. I used to be so awful at journaling, but ever since I started a blog, it's become much easier

So I must share one thing I found as I was blog stocking... I came across this quote that really made me think. I just had to laugh at how true this statement is.

"Blogging- Never before have so many people with so little to say, say so much to so few people"

It's Official...

Stephen's decided to go back to school for a MBA! This is a decision we've been contemplating for almost a year now. It's been stressful the past few months as he's been applying to different programs and looking at different career paths. He'll be attending BYU's daytime program starting Fall 2009. So that means, he'll finish up with his job at Principal this summer and dive into the life of a student full time. I thought I was long past the days of college, with papers, projects, and late night studying...but I guess not. I'll live vicariously through Stephen. We feel good about this decision, but it's definitely a scary jump to make...especially with the economy the way it is right now. We are hoping that after two years of school it will be turning around and Stephen will be able to find a job. We're glad that we won't have to sell our house and may possibly have some of Stephen's siblings come live with us to help us with the mortgage payment. I guess we'll have to see! We'll be living as poor students the next few years!